Idea Depot

If you can't speak Polish you can pretty much stop reading now. This post is an invitation to check out my new Polish language blog on productivity, Getting Things Done, motivation and similar.

Zapraszam wszystkich zainteresowanych Getting Things Done, motywacją i tematami pokrewnymi na mój nowy blog o produktywności.

Given you're into Behaviour Driven Development and work with Ruby, I take it for granted you've already heard of RSpec. If not, I'll briefly introduce you info the concept of BDD.

BDD is a concept binding together Test Driven Development and Domain Driven Design. There are three core principles in Behaviour Driven Development:

1. Business and Technology should refer to the same system in the same way.
2. Any system should have an identified, verifiable value to the business.
3. Up-front analysis, design and planning all have a diminishing return

If you want to know more, make sure to visit http://behaviour-driven.org/ - it's a very interesting read.

Now some intro info what RSpec is:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

# game_spec.rb
require 'game'

describe Game do
  before(:each) do
    @game = Game.new
  end

  it "should score 0 for gutter game" do
    1.upto(20) { @game.hit(0) }
    @game.score.should == 0
  end
end

Now we define a class to make it pass:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# game.rb
class Game
  def hit(pins)
  end

  def score
    0
  end
end

And voila!

$ spec game_spec.rb --format specdoc

Game
- should score 0 for gutter game

Finished in 0.007534 seconds

1 example, 0 failures

I'll elaborate on using RSpec more in a few days, so for the time of being regard it as an introductory post and browse to http://rspec.rubyforge.org/ to read more on RSpec.

Excuse my incoherent writing style today, but I'm feeling half-dead at the moment...

You can have a look at the larger version on Flickr, with proper mouseover effects. The apps from left are as follows:

1. Adium - outstanding IM client
2. Twitterfic - I'm not a Twitter addict, but I sometimes use it.
3. iScrobbler - acts as iTunes+iPod - last.fm gateway
4. Mozy Online Backup - an interesting backup solution I'm currently reviewing
5. SoundSource - I use it mostly to switch between my lappy's internal speakers and a 5.1 speaker set connected to my Linux desktop, which I use wirelessly from my MacBook. I have to admit that it works quite well.
6. Bluetooth connectivity - used only to sync my Motorla V3 Razr.
7. AirPort Wi-Fi connection - I use it extensively to free myselft from redundant wiring.
8. Volume - self-explicable
9. Battery satus - self-explicable
10. Time & date - self-explicable
11. Accounts - sometimes I let my brother use my laptop, so it comes in handy.
12. Spotlight - very rarely used, I rely on Quicksilver most of the time.

I have exactly 34 days (as of April 29^th) until my SAT Subject Tests. I'm going to sit Mathematics Level 2 and Physics, which are frankly rather easy, yet the time limit is quite harsh. On top of that, I'm taking the Certificate of Proficiency in English on July 14^th. It's gotta be hectic, believe me or not.

So that I could finally listen to music on the go and enjoy numerous podcasts I subscribe to. Clipped to my shirt. Favorable.

For about a month now, I've been using Spanning Sync (a great piece of software, by the way), to synchronise my iCal calendar with Google Calendar service. I have to admit that their software is utterly useful, but come on, what's with their currently announced pricing model? They want $25 annually or $65 per lifetime license. Quite too pricey for an app that's useful only for syncing your calendars...

OK, this may sound fetish, but I desperately carve for this desk. So simplistic, so beautilful - I love it.

I've just given a talk yesterday about Ruby and Ruby on Rails on Silesian University of Technology, as a part of series of talks organised by Silesian Linux User Group. I hope attendees liked it, even though we were running short of time and I had to skip or just briefly describe some interesting topics. Regardless, I had fun both preparing and giving the talk, despite some stresses during the latter ;)

PS. I'll soon be posting a more thorough coverage of topics mentioned in my talk with the actual presentation attached. Stay tuned.

Improving the security of your fresh VPS or dedicated server running Ubuntu should be your first real task to accomplish. Having it done, you'll have less trouble later on keeping script kiddies off your server. Follow the instructions below to improve your SSH security and set up a simple firewall.

Ready, steady, go!

Read the rest of this entry

It's been a while since had some time to update my blog. Being busy with my studies, job and many, many other chores. I've been running like crazy for past two months with 4-hour breaks for sleep (got used to it already). Luckily, it's better now and hence this post. I'll be writing from time to time now, but don't expect miracles - post-a-day rate is unreachable. Enjoy.

PS: This blog is proudly powered by Mephisto, served by a Mongrel cluster, proxied via Lighttpd web server. Everything on mighty VPS from SliceHost. Hot.